Trial reportJournal of feline medicine and surgery2016
Improving the feline veterinary consultation: the usefulness of Feliway spray in reducing cats' stress.
Trial report in Journal of feline medicine and surgery, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 76 citations in OpenAlex.
- ISFM Consensus Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Management of Hypertension in Cats.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2017Guideline
- Effect of a Pheromone on Stress-Associated Reactivation of Feline Herpesvirus-1 in Experimentally Inoculated Kittens.Journal of veterinary internal medicine · 2018Trial
- Assessing Cat Welfare: A Literature Review on Behavioural, Physiological and Health Parameters with a Focus on Animal-Assisted Services (AAS).Veterinary sciences · 2026Review
- A new generic feline quality of life (FelQoL) questionnaire: part 1 - development and validation.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2026Article
- Effects of a synthetic feline facial pheromone analogue (F3, FeliwayBMC veterinary research · 2026Article
- Effects of a Single Oral Dose of Imepitoin on Veterinary Visit-Related Stress in Cats: An Open-Label Pilot Study.Veterinary sciences · 2026Article
- Can a water-based mist form of the F3 facial pheromone have a short-term effect on cats' adaptation to a new situation?Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2026Article
- Infrared Thermography and Physiological Variables as Methods for Recognizing Fear in Domestic Cats (Veterinary sciences · 2025Article
- Helping Rabbits Cope with Veterinary Acts and Vaccine-Related Stress: The Effects of the Rabbit Appeasing Pheromone (RAP).Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Evaluation of Stress Scores of Healthy Adult Cats during Barometric Whole-Body Plethysmography and Its Correlation with Measurement Parameters.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Use of Gabapentin or Alprazolam in Cats during Postoperative, Short-Term Hospitalization.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- The Influence of Noise Level on the Stress Response of Hospitalized Cats.Veterinary sciences · 2024Article
- A long-lasting gel-based diffuser of feline pheromone can help reduce undesirable behaviors in cats at home: comparison with an electric diffuser.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2024Article
- The Effect of a Synthetic Scent on Cheetah Behaviour.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Feline Stress Management During air Travel: A Multimodal Approach.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2023Review
- 2022 ISFM/AAFP Cat Friendly Veterinary Environment Guidelines.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2022Article
- Effect of a synthetic feline facial pheromone product on stress during transport in domestic cats: a randomised controlled pilot study.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2022Article
- Perception of stress in cats by German cat owners and influencing factors regarding veterinary care.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2022Article
- Double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of venlafaxine to treat behavioural disorders in cats: a pilot study.Journal of feline medicine and surgery · 2022Article
- Dealing With Stress in Cats: What Is New About the Olfactory Strategy?Frontiers in veterinary science · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesGoing to the veterinary clinic is a stressful experience for most cats as they feel threatened when entering a new and confined environment. The aim of this research was to investigate if Feliway spray, when used on the table in the consultation room, can decrease cats' stress and ease their handling.
methodsA randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was developed, using a total sample of 87 cats of both sexes, castrated or intact, of any breed, aged >26 weeks. A Feliway spray and a placebo solution spray were tested in two different consultation rooms. During the first phase, Feliway spray was applied to the examination table of one room and the placebo spray in the other. After a washout period of 15 days the spray allocation was switched. After the first 15 mins of general questioning and physical examination carried out by the veterinarian, the observer assessed the stress levels of the cats based on a seven-level 'cat stress score', and the ease of handling based on a five-point 'scale of handling' developed by the authors.
resultsThe study demonstrated that the use of Feliway spray leads to significant (P = 0.01) differences in cats' usual behaviour, according to their owners. With regard to stress, animals exposed to Feliway spray showed significantly lower stress levels than those treated with placebo (P = 0.02). Regarding the scale of handling, the scoring did not differ significantly between cats under the effect of Feliway spray and cats receiving placebo (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This research shows that the use of Feliway spray on the examination table improves the welfare of cats by reducing their stress during veterinary consultations. Feliway spray significantly changed the behaviour of the cats in this study, and offers a simple and effective way to help decrease stress in cats during the consultation.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.